In debates over sprawl, sometimes I hear something like the following conversation:
SMART GROWTH SUPPORTER: Sprawl means ever-lengthening commutes from suburbia, which is bad because no one likes long commutes. Blog Post

“Can Paradise be Planned?” asks Allison Arieff in a recent op-ed. The article discusses new books by architect Robert A.M. Stern and photographer Christoph Gielen to look for reasons for optimism with regard to suburbs and planning.

Recently, I was meditating about the relationship between affordable housing and sprawl. It could be argued that auto-oriented sprawl, by opening up cheap suburban land for development, increases the housing supply and thus reduces housing costs. Under current conditions, this theory seems to c Blog Post

Despite their fears, the well-off residents of Mount Laurel have been unaffected by the “fair share” of affordable housing mandated by the U.S. Supreme Court in the landmark battle over the socioeconomic integration of suburbia.

As housing (un)affordability continues to plague Canada’s big cities, some would-be city dwellers are looking to the suburbs to meet the budget. Using a hypothetical Toronto couple as its basis, number-crunching suggests little long-term savings.

With their unhealthy environments, unsustainability, and relatively poor return on investment, "the suburbs" are an easy target for criticism. But suburbs aren't inherently inadequate, says David Levinson, they suffer from poor postwar urban design.

Planning professor Doug Kelbaugh lives in one of the few neighborhoods outside Manhattan with a perfect 100 Walk Score. His brother's house in South Carolina has a Walk Score of 1. Kelbaugh reflects on the extremes, and what they mean.

The nation has a huge quantity of postwar housing that can be made more walkable and appealing to new generations of residents. Robert Steuteville examines what makes them good candidates and notes some examples of successful retrofits.

Brookings Institute's “Confronting Suburban Poverty” is generating a lot of buzz. Community development leaders and planners took to Rooflines to voice opinions and critiques of the book, moving its authors to submit a response that you must read.